Fattie Fun Follow-Up

"Why didn't I buy one of these a long time ago?"

That's been about the only burning issue with my Salsa Beargrease X5 Aluminum. After a nice local run on urban trails, as well as a long weekend in Northern Michigan, I just love this fat beast!

For the local urban trails, I turned to friend and tour guide, John. I follow John on Strava and I'm always seeing these goofy, loopy routes. It never looks like he gets far from home base and he's practically always in the City limits. Turns our he's found a collection of trails on park lands that link up and lead to a blast of a ride! For these trails, the Beargrease offers some nice flotation through loose gravel or muck. And, it bounces over nearly anything. But the big advantage? GEARS! While I love my single-speed 29er, it only has one gear. Usually the wrong one. Now I can shift to get in the right place and chug up climbs and slither down hills.

But Northern Michigan was where she shined! The trails I rode included a lot of loose sand. On a standard 2"ish tire these would have been a pain. With the 4" 45nrth Husker Du tires you just float through! And hill climbing is no big deal with the gigantic contact patch.

What continues to surprise me is how nimble this big beast is. I would have thought that between the gargantuan wheels and the added weight, she'd ride like a pig. Not so.

Looking forward to many, many more adventures with this special ride!

-Sean-